Stuff from January, 2004
This is the archive of tumbledry happenings that occurred on January, 2004.
This is the archive of tumbledry happenings that occurred on January, 2004.
This is the ultimate post because of it’s high level of randomness. First, let’s start with music. Howie Day’s latest is solid, I need more Jimmy Eat World, and I should get a hold of the Lord of the Rings soundtrack. Dashboard’s newest is growing on me. I still declare that Dido’s “White Flag” is an excellent song. I like some parts of the lyrics and other parts I don’t like. Either way, the tune is excellent. The song I am getting to here is by Evanescence. You may know them because they got big’ly huge with their song from the Spiderman soundtrack. Regardless, their latest is much more mellow - and it doesn’t have that huge shot of ultra low bass that “Bring Me to Life” has at the beginning. I’ll be right back, I have to go find the lyrics. Found them. Interesting - good thing Amy has such a recognizable voice or my search for this song might have been a lot longer. I will only give you an excerpt - if you are that curious why I like the song then go buy it - yes that’s the new tough love motto here at tumbledry.
So Matthew asked this question and I can imagine he expects it to be answered: “How do you know when you are in the right place at the right time?” The key to this is experience. You experience over and over being in the wrong place at the wrong time, the right place at the wrong time, the wrong place at the right time, and finally the right place at the right time. You learn to see what it is like, how it feels to your “gut instinct”, and what happens as a result. It’s not something that anyone can teach you or tell you, it’s something you have to learn for yourself through experience. Unfortunately, that probably doesn’t help you at all in your current situation, Matthew. Therefore, skirting the question I would reply, we do not always need to know if we are in the right place at the right time, we simply need to function and flourish with the knowledge that things will turn out right.
Weebl and Bob - Weebl and Bob is odd. They are eggs. From Britain. They talk. Sorta.
Home Star Runner - What to say - you just have to visit. An animated series with great voices and clean stylistic lines. StrongBad emails are funny in their own sophmoric way; I especially like the guitar email.
Have you ever been walking through the light mist of a gray day when someone stepped in and turned on the sun? Has anyone ever helped you stop looking at the stones in the road and start gazing in wonder at the clouds in the sky? Have you been playing minor chords when someone gave you a reason to stop? Inspiring, isn’t it?
New! We here at tumbledry, in our never-ending quest to serve you better, can now bake cookies. That is, we now use cookies (little bits of information that your browser stores, more here) to save your username and email when you send mail using the QuickMail form. Those of you who have turned off cookies in order to enhance your privacy will not benefit from this function. The cookie is set to go stale after one month.
Tonight was the first night in a long time that I turned on my lava lamp. That blue ooze slowly dancing around in a cyclic pattern has the uncanny ability to slow a person down and make them think. I am one of the last left here in Woodbury; the Exodus back to college began about two weeks ago. Now, only Matt, Shayla, and I remain. John remains as well, but he doesn’t leave; I think that still counts, though. Steve and I ran some errands and by the end of them, he had exactly $15 from what his dad had given him to buy mid-semester school restocking supplies. So, we pulled into the gas station and started filling up the car. “You know,” Steve said as he and a freezing wind jumped into the car, “I hope the gas doesn’t go over fifteen dollars, that’s all I have. Though, it sure would make a great story if I hit exactly fifteen dollars.” I thought for a second and mentioned the quarter I had in my wallet. But Steve was looking though the rear window at the pump. I glanced back as well and, seeing the “total sale” value rapidly climbing to fifteen, I was pretty sure he would go over. I turned away for a second and then heard a resounding “thump.” “Uhh, Alex.” “Yeah?” “Look.” “WHAT THE HECK. NOO! YOUR KIDDING. OH MY GOD! What the HECK?” Total Sale: $15.00 - there in undeniable orange and black. I still think we should have gone to the casino, or at least bought a lottery ticket. When it was all said and done, Steve couldn’t help but muse, “Why do I get lucky with stuff that doesn’t matter?” I don’t know. Fun times.
HARRY: Would you like to have dinner? … Just friends.
SALLY: I thought you didn’t believe men and women could be friends.
HARRY: When did I say that?
SALLY: On the ride to New York.
HARRY: No, no, no, I never said that.
(pauses and thinks) Yes, that’s right, they can’t be friends. Unless both of them are involved with other people, then they can - this is an amendment to the earlier rule. If the two people are in relationships, the pressure of possible involvement is lifted. (another pause) No, that doesn’t work either, because what happens then is, the person you’re involved with can’t understand why you need to be friends with the person you’re just friends with. Like it means something is missing from the relationship and why do you have to go outside to get it? And when you say “No, no, no it’s not true, nothing is missing from the relationship,” the person you’re involved with then accuses you of being secretly attracted to the person you’re just friends with, which you probably are. I mean, come on, who the hell are we kidding, let’s face it. Which brings us back to the earlier rule before the amendment, which is men and women can’t be friends.
Our engineering thing is so cool. Lego MindStorms shall not be disrespected for engineering project prototyping. Plus, I may have landed myself a healthy summer internship! Regradless, we got it all coded up; the light sensor detects, it stops, picks up the object, and then takes it to the ‘trash’. It even has an initialization loop to zero everything and put the arm where it should be. I have Sarah’s dragging (which is mostly what coding involves on these MindStorms things) abilities to thank for that.
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“Anyway this is called Moses; this is a new song about falling in love with the most beautiful women in the world and I hope you like it.”
During events of my day, I frequently wonder if I will put them in this log and, if so, how I would say them. I’ve been thinking about my winter break a lot. There are piles I could write about in here; but I really don’t want everyone to know about it. A rather unfortunate turn of events for a ‘personal’ weblog. Then again, ‘everyone’ doesn’t necessarily mean you, so don’t go getting your nose out of joint. Regardless, I learned a lot. I learned about me. I learned about my friends. I did stuff I’d never done before. (Did not being ‘do’ as in the way a person ‘does’ illegal substances … clarification is another curse of a public ‘personal’ log.) I think I am tired. Tired of what? Well, every 3 months, my life changes. Dramatically. This has been true for (I’m reckoning) the past 3 years, and I would like some routine somewhere. Something where I can say “here we go again” and be happy about it. Oh well.
Saved from Audio Karma ::
Well, it’s Minnesota, it’s been snowing most of the day already. So, time for a speaker post.
Project One, the HPM-60 ‘restoration.’ Actually, these were in fantastic condition when I got them from a fellow AK’er … thanks again! So, there wasn’t much to do at all. But calling it a restoration sounds cool. Anyways, I ordered the re-foaming kit from PE, but then decided to just go with Midwest Speaker Repair, which I got a fine deal on (and they’re near my campus). After that, we reveneered the sides with walnut. Now, if I remember correctly, these speakers are exactly two feet high on one side. When we bought the veneer, we stupidly assumed that when they said “24 inches” they meant a full 24” … So, there is anywhere from a sixteenth to an eighth of an inch gap between the bottom of the veneer and the bottom of the speaker. With a little plastic wood and sanding, it’s pretty hard to see. Shame it had to go that way, but I am happy with the results. The finish is less shiny than the ‘stock’ HPM’s, but that’s how I wanted it! Finally, gave the front a good cleaning around the drivers to give it some life again and now they’re almost done! (Did I mention how perfect the grills are?) Any advice on how to ‘pull’ the midrange dustcaps would be appreciated. I could always replace them, but considering a dented dustcap doesn’t affect the sound quality, I am content to leave well enough alone.
The Banana Sketch, Part I
(Ernie is standing in the aprtment humming to himself. He’s holding a banana in his ear. Bert approaches.)
Bert: Hey Ernie? Hey, uh, Ernie?
Ernie: (Notices Bert) Oh! Hi Bert!
Bert: Uh yeah. Hey Ernie, uh, you know that you have a banana in your ear?
Ernie: (Loudly) What was that, Bert?
Bert: I said, you have a banana in your ear, Ernie. Uh, bananas are food. They are to eat, not to put in your ear, Ernie.
Ernie: (Loudly) Whatdya say, Bert?
Bert: (Yelling) WILL YOU JUST TAKE THAT BANANA OUTTA YOUR EAR!
Ernie: I’M SORRY - YOU’LL HAVE TO SPEAK A LITTLE LOUDER, BERT! I CAN’T HEAR YOU! I HAVE A BANANA IN MY EAR!
Bert: Ernie, why do you have that banana in your ear?
Ernie: To keep the alligators away.
Bert: Er-nie - there aren’t on alligators on Sesame Street!
Ernie: Works pretty good, doesn’t it, Bert?
Well, it was winter break, so we had many chats. Inevitably, the highlights appear here.
Shayla (3:01:31 PM): the little bar at the bottom just gained a little green segment
Shayla (3:01:32 PM): lol
Alex (3:01:57 PM): haha!! that’s excellent to hear - that either means its doing something, or its fooling you into thinking its doing something - those browsers can be rahter sly